Drywall edge construction and finishing channel



A. A. FRUMAN 3,391,509

DRYWALL EDGE CONSTRUCTION AND FINISHING CHANNEL July 9, 1968 Filed Nov. 5, 1966 FIG-l FIGZ 7 0 z 1 L L W2 h FIG-3 INVENTOR ALBERT A. FRUMAN BY M I ATTOR NEYS United States atent Oficc 3,3915% Patented July 9, 1968 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A drywall edge construction formed of a pair of drywall panels secured to opposite faces of a stud and a sheet metal channel overlying and covering said edge. The channel has a flat base, arranged in contact with the edge, with its opposite sides bowed outwardly into a bead to which the channel legs are joined. The legs are fiat and inwardly bent, relative to the base, so that their free edges each form a line contact with the panels and the legs are otherwise spaced from the panels at sharp acute angles. The channel, at the beads, is wider than at the junctures between the legs and beads and the legs are roughened and coated with a plastic-like material from the beads to a point beyond the free edges of the legs, so that the edge construction is of a gradually increasing width and its finished surface consists of the plaster-like material and a painted coating on the exposed surface of the base.

Background of invention In drywall constructions used in buildings, there are times where an unframed, exposed wall end is required, as for example, at archways and pass-throughs, sliding door closet jambs, etc. This contrasts with framed edges, such as the framed edges of a doorway.

Where unframed, exposed wall ends are required, the practice in the past has been to cover these exposed surfaces with plaster or plaster-like material to thus provide a finished wall end surface. This is particularly required since, in drywall constructions, the end of the wall would normally be defined by two raw edges of two spaced apart drywall panels, between which is located a wood or metal stud with the three exposed material surfaces being raw and unfinished and thus requiring :a plaster coating of some kind. Such plaster coatings are relatively expensive, in terms of labor, and are frequently difficult to apply and moreover, are relatively unstable, being easily cracked or chipped over a period of time.

Summary of invention Hence, it is an object of this invention to provide a finished wall end construction utilizing a specific channel form which eliminates much of the labor of plastering and fni-shing and presents a metal finished surface which can be coated to blend in to the appearance of the drywall surfaces.

A further object of this invention is to provide a thin, bent sheet metal channel which can be applied as a unit over the exposed wall end of a drywall construction and whose legs are so configured as to tightly grip or clamp against the drywall panels and are arranged to be concealed by a thin coating of a plaster-like material such as spackle, while presenting a metallic surface at the wall end itself which surface may be suitably painted.

Summarizing, this invention contemplates forming a finished drywall edge using a thin, sheet metal channel, having a fiat base to contact the raw edge of the drywall, with inwardly bent legs, each forming line contact with the opposite surfaces of the drywall panels, the legs otherwise being spaced from the wall panels, with the legs being coated with a plaster like material and the base being exposed to form a finished edge, which is straight and smooth, despite roughness or misalignment of the drywall raw edge construction.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following description of which the attached drawings form a part.

Description of drawings In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective fragmentary view of a drywall construction with the channel applied to the exposed wall edge.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the wall edge.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the channel per se.

Detailed description As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the wall 10 generally comprises a pair of drywall panels 11 secured to studs 12 located between the panels with the panels and stud 12 defining an exposed, unframed wall edge 13.

This wall edge is covered by the edge finishing channel 15 which is formed of thin, springy sheet metal, as for example 25 gauge steel. The channel includes a fiat base 16 with legs 17 bent inwardly at a slight angle to form a slight acute angle relative to the base. At the juncture of the legs and base, the metal is bent into an outwardly bowed or curved continuous head 18.

The exposed or outer surfaces of the legs 17 are roughened as by conventional knurling, and the exposed surface of the base is suitably treated to receive paint, using any of the conventional treating processes by which metal will readily receive and adhere to paint.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, after the wall construction is completed, that is after the drywall panels have been applied to the studs, the channel 15 is applied to the edge and its legs 17, bending inwardly slightly, apply a resilient pressure against the panels, which holds the channel in place. Although the frictional holding of the channel to the edge may be adequate, it is also desirable for most purposes to use additional mechanical fasteners, such as nails or screws 20 or even crimping the ends of the legs inwardly (not illustrated).

Thereafter, conventional plaster material, such as the type known as spackle used in drywall finishing is applied over the legs 17 and tapered and blended into the surfaces of the drywall panels 11. The plaster extends from the outermost extremity of each of the beads 18 and the beads permit rapid and accurate placement of the plaster by means of applying the plaster with a suitable trowel over the legs 17 and thereafter drawing a trowel downwardly along the length of the bead, using the bead as a guide or support, to thereby properly and smoothly apply the plaster and taper and blend it into the panel surface. With the bead construction, the labor required is sharply reduced from ordinary plastering and a complete finished plaster wall surface appears to the viewer. The plaster readily adheres to the channel legs because of the roughening of the surfaces thereof.

At this point, the wall edge is finished and the base 16 of the channel defines the finished end surface. From that point on, the wall is painted in the normal manner, including painting the metal channel base so that it appears to be a unitary construction.

No plastering over the base 16 is required, thereby reducing skilled labor, and at the same time providing a hard stable surface along the ends of the wall as well as at the corners, formed by the rounded beads 18, thus avoiding possible chipping or damage as would normally occur in a conventional plastered end construction.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following claims. Accordingly, it is desired that the foregoing description be read as being merely illustrative of an operative embodiment of this invention.

Having fully described an operative embodiment of this invention, I now claim:

1. In a drywall edge construction formed of a pair of parallel, spaced apart drywall panels secured to the opposite faces of a stud to define with the stud a wall edge, and an elongated, uniform cross-section, then, springy, sheet metal channel, arranged over and covering said edge, the improvement comprising:

said channel having a base and integral side legs, with the base being flat and substantially equal in Width to the thickness of the wall and in face to face contact with the stud and the edges of the panels; the opposite edges of the base being bent outwardly into continuous, rounded beads joined to said legs;

said legs being flat and extending inwardly towards each other, so that each is at an acute angle relative to the base, and with the free edges of the legs being spaced apart a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the wall and being in line contact with the adjacent panel faces, and with the space between the legs, at their junctures with the beads being wider than the thickness of the wall but being considerably less than the overall width of the channel, that is, less than the distance between the outermost edges of the beads;

the exposed surface of said base being treated for receiving a decorative painted coating and the exposed faces of said legs being roughened, as by knurling, and a plaster-like material covering said legs and extending from the outermost extremities of the beads to a point beyond the free edges of the legs and blended into the drywall panel surface, with the drywall edge thereby gradually increasing in thickness from said point to said base the finished wall edge surface thereby consisting of the painted exposed base surface with side surfaces of the plaster-like material blended into the drywall panel surfaces.

2. A wall edge finishing channel for fitting over and covering the raw edge of a drywall construction formed of a pair of spaced apart drywall panels secured to the opposite faces of a stud, comprising:

an elongated, uniform cross-section channel bent out of thin, springy sheet metal into a flat base and a pair of flat integral side legs; the base being of a width equal to the thickness of the wall edge and adapted to be arranged in face to face contact with the exposed edges of the stud and panels; said legs extending towards each other, each at an acute angle relative to the base, with the free edges of the legs being spaced apart a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the wall for forming line contact between said free edges and their adjacent panel surfaces; the junctures between the legs and the base, each being bent into continuous, outwardly extending, rounded beads, with the width of the channel at the beads being greater than the width measured at the junctures between the legs and the beads, so that the legs are adapted to be arranged at a sharp acute angle relative to their adjacent drywall panels and spaced therefrom except at their free edges; the outer faces of said legs being roughened, as by knurling, to receive and adhere to a plaster-like coat ing, and the exposed face of the base being treated for receiving and adhering to a coat of decorative paint.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,743,980 5/1956 Hobbs 52627 X 2,765,884 10/ 1956 Stetfan 52-211 3,130,455 4/1964 Borlenghi 52211 X 3,255,561 6/1966 Cable 52-255 FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

ALFRED C. PERHAM, Assistant Examiner. 

